Results tagged “520bridge”

Accompanied by music we swear we've heard in an acupuncturist's lobby, these depict the new bridge options as efficient, utopian dream.

Think twice about your weekend road-tripping plan of attack, especially if your map requires you to take either SR 520 or I-90 bridges. The 520 floating bridge will be undergoing its annual bridge inspection this weekend so tonight, WSDOT crews will close down 520 from Montlake Boulevard E. to 92nd Avenue NE at 11 p.m. It is set to re-open on Monday, June 22 at 5 a.m. Now here's the clincher: come Sunday morning, the I-90 express lanes will also be closed from 6:30-9:30 a.m. (Oh, noes!) for the cyclists riding in the LIVESTRONG Challenge. Good luck with any rerouting so you can see dear ol' Dad. And if that's not enough, expect traffic congestion from Mariners games, the All Nations Cup Parade, and the Fremont Summer Solstice Parade Festival and Street Fair.

By a 2-to-1 ratio, area residents have expressed support for using tolls to help fund the 520 Bridge replacement. This according to survey results provided in an e-mail release today by the state-created 520 Tolling Implementation Committee.

Governor Christine Gregoire has admitted Washington is facing a budget deficit for 2009-11 (currently the state has a surplus), after third-party "GOP" candidate (He's what now? A Republican?) Dino Rossi staked out the issue. Now that she's announced cutbacks and a raid on the state's rainy day fund to cut the projected $3.2 billion deficit by half, Rossi can't find anything good to say about that, either. It is thrilling to hear a Republican deride reckless deficit spending; Ronald Reagan was all for it. But besides his time machine which transports tomorrow's deficits to today, Rossi seems to have a magic calculator, too--his 8-lane 520 bridge practically pays for itself.

Transit in Seattle has its challenges. (Yes, operator of the 554 who thought it would be a good idea on Friday to pull your half-full rig next to another bus at the Eastgate Park-and-Ride and then complain back and forth with the other driver for five minutes about your shifts getting changed due to school being out while Seattlest sweltered a few rows back in the ad-wrapped, ventilation-free, four-wheeled saucepan, yes, we are most certainly talking to YOU. You ran two stops signs later, but we digress.)

In January, Governor Gregoire announced her support to toll the 520 bridge. Today, Gregoire announced lawmakers have approved the aggressive strategy to toll the 520 bridge to help finance the cost of building a new floating bridge across Lake Washington. The toll amounts have not been finalized. The new bridge will cost $4 billion, and commuters will pay for half. According to the Seattle Times, the toll could be as much as $7 each way during rush hour. The idea is good—we need a new bridge.